First Edition: January 7, 2015
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News:
Might Your Workers Be Eligible For Medicaid? Start-Up Helps Employers Find Out
Kaiser Health News staff writer Phil Galewitz reports: "The Gold ‘N Silver Inn in Reno, Nev., has long offered health coverage to its employees — but many of the cooks, dishwashers and waiters who make close to minimum wage can’t afford the $100 monthly premium. Last January, when Nevada became one of more than two dozen states to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, 10 of the diner’s 55 employees qualified for the government insurance program for low-income Americans. None of them realized it, however, until the family-run restaurant hired BeneStream, a New York-based start-up funded partly by the Ford Foundation." (Galewitz, 1/7)
The Wall Street Journal:
Challenges Await Speaker Boehner After Election To Third Term
White House officials said Mr. Obama is prepared to veto two bills GOP leaders plan to consider soon—one approving the Keystone XL pipeline and another changing the Affordable Care Act’s definition of a full-time worker from 30 to 40 hours a week—casting doubts over how much the president and GOP congressional leaders will be able to accomplish during the Democratic president’s final two years in office. (Peterson and Crittenden, 1/6)
The Wall Street Journal:
White House Would Veto Health Law Workweek Change
Under the 2010 Affordable Care Act, businesses with 50 or more employees are required to offer full-time workers insurance or face penalties. The proposed GOP bill would allow business to cover fewer of their workers by redefining full-time work to 40 hours a week. (Tau, 1/6)
The Washington Post Wonkblog:
How The GOP Could Unintentionally Drive Up Obamacare Enrollment
The GOP bill, one of the first to get consideration in the new Congress, would redefine "full-time employee" under the ACA as someone who works at least 40 hours a week. It sounds commonsense enough — 40 hours is entrenched in American culture as the standard workweek. But studies indicate that what the GOP is trying to do will actually increase Americans' dependence on government-provided health insurance and raise the deficit. When the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office scored an identical bill last year, it found that 1 million people would be dropped from their employer-sponsored insurance, causing between 500,000 and 1 million people to turn to public insurance options, such as Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program and the ACA health insurance exchanges. (Millman, 1/6)
The Washington Post's Fact Checker:
Has The Medical Device Tax Eliminated ‘Thousands’ Of Jobs?
The push to repeal the medical device tax already has bipartisan support, and it is expected to be one of the first issues taken up by Congress this year. The repeal of the 2.3 percent excise tax, imposed under the Affordable Care Act, is one of the priorities of the Republican-led Congress as lawmakers aim to chip away at parts of the health-care law. We don’t intend to single out Thune. He is among a chorus of lawmakers — Democrat and Republican — who want to repeal the tax, and among many who are using the job-loss claim as one of the reasons to get rid of it ... We don’t intend to single out Thune. He is among a chorus of lawmakers — Democrat and Republican — who want to repeal the tax, and among many who are using the job-loss claim as one of the reasons to get rid of it. (Ye Hee Lee, 1/7)
The New York Times:
House Republicans Change Rules On Calculating Economic Impact Of Bills
Other changes were more partisan. One new rule allows the House to overturn recommendations of an independent panel created by the Affordable Care Act to trim Medicare costs. Another makes it more difficult to shift Social Security money between the program’s different trust funds, increasing the likelihood that deep cuts to disabled workers and their families will be made as the Disability Insurance Trust Fund nears depletion in 2016. That quickly drew condemnation from AARP, the powerful lobby for retired people. (Weisman, 1/6)
The Washington Post:
Five Things Governors Want The Do-Nothing Congress To, Well, Do
On health care, the governors called on Congress to adopt more than 40 recommendations NGA shared with the Department of Health and Human Services last year. Those include streamlining approval of Medicaid expansion waivers and encouraging state innovation by helping to make successful state programs permanent and sharing savings that result from state-driven reforms. (Chokshi, 1/6)
USA Today:
Hickenlooper: U.S. Should Look To States For How To Govern
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper came to the capital of government gridlock to offer a solution. Hickenlooper, chairman of the National Governors Association, said Tuesday that Congress and the White House should look to how states are governing themselves as a model for getting beyond the partisanship that has stymied action in Washington. ... Governors also would like Congress to reauthorize Head Start and the Children' Health Insurance Program, and find a better way to fund transportation projects. They also are calling for streamlining the way states institute alternative approaches, called waivers, to the Medicaid program that provides health care for the poor. (Theobald, 1/6)
The Washington Post's Wonkblog:
Why You Shouldn’t Count On Your Family Members To Take Care Of You When You’re Old
Americans are strongly underestimating their future needs for long-term care, a potentially costly oversight that could hurt them in their retirement years. About 60 percent of adults between 40 and 65 years old don't think they'll need need long-term care services, according to a new Health Affairs study. That's much less than the 70 percent of people at least 65 years old who will need long-term care services at some point either in their home or at a facility, according to a widely cited earlier study from the Georgetown University Long-Term Care Financing Project. That includes 20 percent who will need between two to five years of long-term care and 20 percent who'll need more than five years. (Millman, 1/6)
The Wall Street Journal:
Health-Care Stocks Avoid Market Malaise
For investors, health-care stocks are a panacea in good and bad times. After helping to lead the market higher in 2014, shares of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies have started off the new year avoiding much of the malaise afflicting other sectors. The broader market has stumbled in the early days of the New Year, with the S&P 500 down 2.7 percent. (Strumpf, 1/6)
The Wall Street Journal:
Biosimilar Drugs Face U.S. Test
The introduction in the U.S. of cheaper alternatives to complex biologic drugs faces a key test this week that could determine whether consumers and insurers will save billions of dollars on drugs to treat cancer and other ailments. A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel will decide Wednesday whether to recommend that the agency approve a drug known as EP2006 from Novartis AG ’s Sandoz unit. (Burton, 1/6)
The Associated Press:
Centra Completes Acquisition Of Lynchburg Insurer
Centra has completed its acquisition of health insurer Piedmont Community Health Plan. Centra bought Integrated Healthcare Incorporated’s 50 percent share in Piedmont for $7.5 million. The deal closed in late December. (1/6)
The Washington Post:
Two Dead, Including Alleged Shooter, In El Paso VA Clinic Shooting
One person was shot and killed in an El Paso Army medical facility Tuesday afternoon, and the alleged shooter is dead, army officials said Tuesday night. The incident at the El Paso Veteran Affairs Clinic was reported around 3:10 p.m. local time, Maj. Gen. Stephen Twitty, commanding general of Fort Bliss, said at a news conference. (Izadi, 1/6)
The Wall Street Journal:
Gunman, One Victim Dead In VA Clinic Shooting In El Paso
VA officials also wouldn’t discuss specifics or a possible motive for the shooting, but released a statement expressing grief about what had happened. “The Department of Veterans Affairs is deeply saddened by the tragic situation that has occurred in El Paso,” spokeswoman Victoria Dillon said. “We are actively working with our partners at Fort Bliss to investigate this matter.” (Frosch, 1/7)